Category: Marriage

When I met you, I was a little rough around the edges. Once a fairly cheerful and optimistic person, I was jaded, skeptical, and calloused. I had left a situation a few months prior that frightens me when I look back on it.

Out of near desperation for friendship and strengthening my relationship with the Lord, I entered a room filled with singles (or at least not-married-yets) who gathered a couple of times a month to discuss the sermon and encourage one another. I was nervous and self-conscious. Extremely self-conscious. Extremely nervous. I don’t remember meeting you, but I don’t really remember meeting anyone. I remember surviving and thinking I would be OK returning in a couple of weeks.

Seven years have passed, and I almost don’t remember how we transitioned from that first meeting to falling in love. I think it was like a snowball. We started slowly and ramped up pretty quickly. You were smart and goofy and fun and didn’t seem to mind my rough exterior. In fact, you chipped away slowly at that exterior and brought me back to life.

You showed me Christ. You helped me have fun again. You became my best friend and the man with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life. You did it one laugh at a time.

We had so much fun at Bald Rock!

Almost seven years later, this is still one of my favorite pictures of us!

You modeled servanthood to me, always putting others before yourself. You were patient with me. You waited a whole four months to propose to me! (A month in, I would have happily run off into the sunset with you.)

Remember that time we took our own engagement photos? So much fun!

You’ve loved me well these last seven years, better than I’ve loved you. You’ve helped me learn the power of forgiveness, and you don’t hold grudges against me (thank you for that!!). You work HARD to provide for our family, and I admire and respect you so much.

Watching you become a daddy, I feel like I’m meeting you and falling in love with you all over again. You are selfless, always saying Asher’s needs are more important than your own (Philippians 2:4). You wash all the bottles, and you don’t grumble when I can’t seem to wake up in the middle of the night to feed Asher. You can’t wait to come home to see us every day.

I love the way you look at our son. So in love!

You’re still the best at the football hold!

You care so well for our boy!

You are a man of integrity, a man I can admire, a man I love to point to and say, “He’s my husband!” You bring joy and laughter into my life. You’re the best at telling dad jokes.

I’m so thankful I met you seven years ago today. I’m grateful God wrote us into his story, and I can’t wait to continue watching it unfold. I love you!

This is your fifth birthday we’ve been able to spend together. Often, I wish that number were higher. I wish we had met sooner. You made my life so much better that I wish we had an earlier start together!

When we met, I was coming out of a pretty rotten time in my life. God used you to bring joy back into my heart. You brought life, fun, and laughter back to me. From those early days when we started hanging out taking pictures together, we began an adventure that has been the best of my life.

Every day, you display God’s grace to me. He has used you in countless ways in my life and in the lives of others to display His steadfast love. You have a gentleness about you (one that balances me out very well!) and a kindness that puts others before yourself. You serve others at your own expense and with joy in your heart. Service seems to come so naturally to you, and I know it’s the Holy Spirit at work in and through you each day.

I see Christ in you as you lead our family, as you serve in our church, and as you care for others. You point me to Christ as we make decisions, when I’m living my way instead of His, and when you love me well.

As we’ve stepped out in faith to answer God’s call to adopt, I’ve fallen in love with you all over again. You’re genuinely listening for God’s voice and seeking His guidance each step of the way. You’re confident this is what God wants for our family, and you’re not afraid of the challenges we’re going to face along the journey. I love the courage I’ve seen displayed in you over the last couple of months. I admire the man of God you are and the man of God you are becoming.

And, by the way, you are going to be THE best daddy! Our babies are so blessed already. I should go ahead and start shopping for Dad of the Year trophies and Best Dad Ever mugs and those My Dad Rocks t-shirts. You’re going to need all of that. :O)

I wish I were better with words so I could express the depths of my love for you. Just know they’re really deep! I hope you have the happiest of birthdays!